The Childhood/Adolescent Countdown registered its strongest numbers yet this past week, so I can only assume the scorching weather kept people inside and on the PC. Ha! The biggest day of all was Thursday, when the post on Ordinary People attracted over 30 comments and around 160 page views. The post on Stand By Me (published Tuesday) scored around 150 page views and over 20 comments. The reviews for Dead Poets Society and Careful, He Might Hear You also registered impressive numbers. Hopefully this is proof that the countdown has taken hold with readers, and will continue to thrive. The venture as stated previously will run into October, ending with the essay for the Number 1 film.

Congratulations are certainly in order for Allan Fish (and for Wonders in the Dark) for the ‘thank you’ comment from Philippine actress Hazel Orencio, who played one of the female leads in the Lav Diaz review he posted late Saturday. The comment was entered on the comment thread. Just fantastic.

Lucille and I attended a 50th anniversary party for the 1965 Fairview Babe Ruth League baseball championship team at La Fortuna Restaurant in town on Friday night. It was thrilling to see people I hadn’t seen in decades, though these men are five years older, and my memories are strained. We only saw one movie in theaters, but managed to see quite a few more on blu ray or DVD on out 4K flat screen. Some were repeat viewings of films I reviewed for the countdown this past week, and are huge personal favorites.

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Sounds like a great week, for you Sam and family. The countdown is great, and there are a few I wish to catch up on Paper Moon for one, I am not sure I have seen this since it was released at the movies. I was impressed then.
I have been busy baking/cooking, I also wrote new page for my blog and wrote a guest art blog for my friend Don Brewer. As well as attended a Photography Exhibition to support and encourage friends and fellow photographers. I will be writing a piece for that as well.
I have been watching an Australian TV show on Hulu, Jack Irish and just finished the Fox showing of Wayward Pines, interesting concept. Of course PBS Poldark and Crimson Fields…

Thanks so much for those exceedingly kind words Jeff! You participation at the countdown has been deeply appreciated! Very happy to hear you have updated your blog and have much enjoyed that celebratory post! Great show with the baking and cooking! Your other activities confirm all is on the upswing for you my friend! Nice to hear you have something lined up for the photography exhibit! I’ve heard about HULU, but haven’t seen the show yet myself. Ditto WAYWARD PRESS. Many thanks my friend! Have a terrific upcoming weekend!

Peter, Cemetery is an exceptional spaghetti western in its moral seriousness and romantic tragic tone and a one-off triumph for actor-director Robert Hossein. I hope Sam gets an opportunity at some point to elaborate on its many virtues.

Samuel (and Peter) I was very impressed with CEMETERY WITHOUT CROSSES, which was a darker spaghetti western than most. Michele Mercier is a looker of course and the black-glove-clad Hussein orchestrates this bleak Gallic spin in the genre. The uncompromising finale won’t have you in an upbeat mood, though the memories of the film will remain vivid. Andre Hossein’s score is marvelous, and the film is visually striking, making great use of the stark sets. Certainly this is a classic revenge drama.

Oh I am looking forward to having more reading and movie watching time during the next couple of weeks Sam! I have a bit of a natural break before hitting the highway again to go into north central British Columbia for a week. Thanks for you up date to the the Creative Potager link and the Northern California paintings! I am pleased with these works and happy to have them up for viewing. We were away on the weekend and just got happily home last evening, I am auditing a 15th and 16th art history course from the University of Madrid and next I will delve into the this weeks online lectures for this week. Life is good and all the best to you Sam and the everyone at Wonders In the Dark!

Terrill, I can well understand why this time of the year would be challenging to watch stuff indoors. I trust you are having a great time up in British Columbia! You should well be pleased with those two paintings as they are masterpieces! Sounds like everything is falling into place for you Terrill. That’s really fantastic in every sense! Will talk soon my friend! many thanks!

We had a week of cool weather and that was a relief, even a bit of rain. Folks seemed happier. I watched two Danish TV shows this week and thought they were pretty good. RITA and HJORDIS. Teachers at the local school with interesting problems to solve. Fall books are starting to arrive and am sneaking in a few personal favorites and choices as August is a bit lean and slow. Once again thank you for checking out my latest Review. I think Olivay would make quite the movie. I appreciate you r comments also.
Trying to sell this house is a bit hard on our psyche and our excited about our new space hoping someone makes an offer soon. New house has a damaged roof and heating system which we cannot fix until this house sells. And winter is coming. 2 weeks off of Pt ahead. Then 6 more session, still hoping I’ll be able to drive. Happy to be pain free but discouraged by how slow healing process is
I am enjoying reading the reviews very much and learning about some movies I did not know before

Patricia, it is always nice when you get some cool weather this time of the year. We have sustained some serious scorchers in the past three weeks, and there doesn’t seem to be any relief in sight. Those two Danish shows you watched sound right up my alley! Ha! Yes it hard to believe that the fall season is right around the corner, but all things considered I can’t wait. I will certainly be checking out more of your reviews and linking them here my friend. I can well understand that all kind of headaches are attached to the selling of a house, and I wish you the least aggregation. Ugh. Thanks as ever for the kind words, and hope this weekend is bringing you some relief. 🙂

Nice to hear the site is doing so well during the countdown Sam! Last week was definitely a high point as all the reviews were terrific. I am interested in The Stanford Prison Experiment – I read about this real-life event this morning.

Thanks for the mention, Sam, much appreciated. I saw the new Disney/Pixar offering, ‘Inside Out’, with the family yesterday and quite enjoyed it – there are obvious similarities with both Toy Story and Monsters Inc. The short at the beginning about a lovelorn volcano was great!

I must now get straight on to catching up with those countdown postings – great to hear that the site has been doing so well.

Judy, I also thought INSIDE OUT was very nicely done! And I too enjoyed the short! I see those similarities too, and mentioned TOY STORY with Lucille. I much appreciate your tireless support of the countdown my friend! 🙂

Hello Sam and everyone!
Hope everything goes fine with you and family! Nice to see you rewatch 3 Women, which I rate ****1/2 too, a great movie!
These are the ones I saw last week:
– Area 51 (2015, Oren Peli) *** Metal Gear Solid + Aliens + Found Footage
– Godzilla (1998, Roland Emmerich) *1/2 This weightless CGI monster fest is complete and absolute shit, and I went this without any kind of bias against it, specially since I think that criticism towards “hip to hate” movies is absolutely wrong, specially for films like these ones, that maybe aren’t ill advised as much as they’re a product of their time, but this just isn’t fun nor pretty to look at. Maybe the first 15 minutes of this movie have some sort of good in them, specially as it reminisces too much of the Jurassic Park films (there’s even a Spielberg dolly-in shock shot), but this just goes downhill whenever it wants to convince us that this monster is Godzilla. I never felt any threat, and the Godzilla babies are among the worst CGI ever.
– Maps to the Stars (2014, David Cronenberg) **** What the feck? This was weird yet compelling.
– Not Reconciled (1965, Jean-Marie Straub) **** The most inventive editing this side of Godard.
– The Nightmare (2015, Rodney Ascher) ***1/2 I know that Rodney Ascher was aiming to do a somewhat personal story over a straight up documentary about sleep paralysis and as much as it manages to be frightening and disrupting in ways that someone may or may not expect, but I was constantly expecting the professional voice. I mean, after decades, years, centuries of people talking and experiencing this phenomena, the fact that there’s not much exploration done about it, as it’s mostly shrugged off to dementia or other deprivations that cause these events, I still want to find out why and how it is possible to have these Jungian images in our minds, if that’s actually the answer to the whole situation. Not a well researched film, but still a watchable one.
– Portrait (2002, Sergei Loznitsa) ***1/2 Looking for an answer beyond the frame.
That’s all, have a great week everyone!

Wow, somebody else likes Maps to the Stars. Hard to find a good word for this one. I gave it 4 stars the first time I saw it and then 4-1/2 on a rewatch. It ended up making my best of the year list. Pure Cronenberg.

Thanks so much Jaimie! Yes we certainly do agree on the Altman film! As to the others you splendidly assess here I have only seen GODZILLA (agree it is trash!) and MAP TO THE STARS, which I was uncharacteristically lukewarm to in view of the fact it was directed by Cronenberg. But your rating (and Duane’s below) make me think I should give this a second viewing. f the others NOT RECONCILED sounds best; not really too interested in the Rodney Asher nor AREA 51. Thanks again. Hope your weekend was a good one my friend!

I know nothing of The Stanford Prison Experiment, alas. Guess I ought to hie me to IMDB pronto.

Many thanks for the shoutout!

Pressure of work has kept from doing much watch the past week or two. I did re-watch Whistle Down the Wind last night, though, because I’m committed to producing an essay on it for a blogathon this weekend. I’d remembered it as a knockout, but I hadn’t recalled the full scale of its impact. What an amazing piece of work.

John, I am wagering you respond favorably to THE STANFORD PRISON EXPERIMENT. I have seen your spectacular review of WHISTLE DOWN THE WIND which I will happily link to the upcoming MMD!! Quite a presentation there in every way my friend! Thank you!

Sam, admitted I do not like Ordinary People. I watched it once years ago and never had a desire to take another look. On the other hand, Paper Moon is a charming film that is extremely re-watchable.

On the movie front, we caught Trainwreck (***1/2) which for the first hour is top-notch edgy Amy, then deteriate into a more standardized rom-com. Still entertaining but loses its edge. Bill Hader makes for a good leading man.

Re-watched the following…

Eyes of Laura Mars (**1/2) saw this when it first came out and was disappointed. It was Carpenter’s, who co-wrote the screenplay, breakout year with Halloween and an excellent TV movie called Somebody’s Watching Me. Unfortunately, Laura Mars has a weak script that does not fulfill its promise.

3:10 to Yuma (****1/2) great psychological western! Photographically beautiful with cecellent performances by just about everyone. My only problem was the ending. I found Glenn Ford’s Ben Wade turnaround at the end a cop out for a happy ending. Just unbelievable.

The Desparadoes (**) another western with Glenn Ford. However, this is standard stuff bringing nothing new to the table. Film is only,worth watching for a couple of good performances by supporting players Evelyn Keyes and Edgar Buchannan.

John—I do remember indeed that you were never a fan of ORDINARY PEOPLE. You most certainly are not the only one my friend. I am delighted you are an advocate for PAPER MOON though. I watched it again recently and it holds up beautifully. I do agree with you on other assessments here too. Yes THE DESPARADOES isn’t much, and like you I am a big fan of 3:10 TO YUMA! I might go a bit higher (***) on THE EYES OF LAURA MARS, but agree it is hardly unique. I still have not gotten around to TRAINWRECK, but your rather divided response is what I was expecting. Hope you having a special weekend my friend. Thank you!

I’ve been out of the loop Sam. Hope all is well with you and the family. We’ve had a busy few weeks as we were on vacation last week in Vermont and had a wonderful time. This week has been hectic at work and now my wife’s grandpa has passed away so we’ll be attending his funeral this weekend. He was a great man and was loved by many.

I caught up with a few films recently:

Like you, I rate The Merchant of Four Seasons very highly. It was my first viewing being the Criterion release and it’s one of the first great films of many that Fassbinder made. I always love his troupe of actors/actresses.

Also saw Jan Troell’s Here is Your Life. Beautifully shot Swedish film. Helps remind you that Bergman wasn’t the only film director in Sweden at the time.

The Rose – with Bette Midler. Not my favorite, but a musical of sorts that I hadn’t heard much about at all over the years. The film definitely looks and sounds great though in the new cut from Criterion.

Thanks Jon! Sounds like a great time indeed up in Vermont with the family! But I see some sadness has intruded in your lives and I am so sorry to hear the news of your wife’s grandfather. The fact that he was such a good man and loved by many says it all; please extend my heartfelt condolences to your wife.

Glad to hear we are on the same page with the Fassbinder! And yes, HERE IS YOUR LIFE is an exceedingly beautiful film. My wife really likes THE ROSE, even if I am closer to your way of thinking on it. But yes, a mighty nice looking Criterion. Hope you all will feel better in the coming weeks. So sorry.

Sam, been a little of a whirlwind of late but all good stuff. Sounds like you have been taking in some very interesting stuff at home. I am particularly intrigued by Careful, He Might Hear You as that is one I have never seen.

Too quiet here on the viewing front but I did finally see Birdman which I found entertaining and definitely impressive in terms of its stylistic audacity. Hoping all is great there!

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Wonders in the Dark is a blog dedicated to the arts, especially film, theatre and music. An open forum is highly encouraged, as the site proctors are usually ready and able to engage with ongoing conversation.